I'm assuming it is winter wheat, and mowing it so it will not get so big it joints might even help keep it from winter killing. If the wheat gets big enough it "joints" freezing weather will kill it. I've raised a lot of wheat for the last 40+ years but can't say I've had much experience mowing it, but I don't think it would hurt anything, just don't get carried away. Let it get some size before you do (six or eight inches) and mow it 4" high. Don't mow it at a half inch like a golf course or you probably will kill it. Keep in mind, winter wheat is often used for winter grazing of cattle, then the cattle are taken off and still raise a wheat crop. So judicious mowing should not hurt it.
Winter wheat will go dormant at freeze up and green up early next spring. One of the first things to green up. You can mow it then too, and that will keep it from going into reproductive stage (stem with a wheat head on it) and actually make it last longer staying green further into the summer. When hot weather gets here, it will eventually die off, as it is an annual.
The wheat will repress the fescue somewhat. You will think you have no fescue, because the stuff is tiny and at least at my age, I have to get on my hands and knees to even see the tiny, thin bladed stuff when it comes up. But it will likely be there, and when the wheat dies off, will finally start growing more. In the mean time, the wheat will at first support a good root system to help hold the soil in place, and later provide mulch to keep rain drops from displacing soil to get erosion started.
Thank you. Lots of good info. If it keeps the soil in place now, and provides a little mulch for the fescue to get started, I'll be a happy camper.
I never did get any lime down. So, it's just seed and straw on clay. The wheat looks like it's going to come up, not sure about the fescue.
